I have and always will defend Saban on this one. The Dolphins were awful and he did a good job. Try playing in the NFL without a QB, O line, RB, WR's... Look at how good their defense was last year and where they are this year...with the addition of a pro bowler linebacker. I dont care to debate the rest of the story, but this part has always bothered me in the Saban debate.
When a coach signs with a new team, that team is not totally empty. It is completely filled with someone else's recruits. What does it matter WHO recruited them, as it should matter who IS coaching them... Sure, Saban recruited Dorsey and many other key players on our team, but CLM is their coach. Dorsey didn't risk injury and prolong the NFL to come back for his last year and play for Saban, he's playing for CLM and the rest of Tiger Nation.
It was Michigan St. He posted a 34-24-1 (57.6%) record while at Michigan St. 1995: 6-5-1 1996: 6-6 1997: 7-5 1998: 6-6 1999: 9-2 (They finished the season 10-2, but the bowl game was coached by Bobby Williams) I, for one, do not hate Saban. I am appreciative for what he did here at LSU. Yes, he brought us back to national prominence, but what most of us here are trying to say is that it didnt take a miracle to do it. Most of us were miffed at his hire to say the least. What had he proven? We didnt want another Gerry Dinardo, a coach with mediocre accomplishments at a mediocre program. He built his reputation on his accomplishments here at LSU. His reputation for being a lights out recruiter was earned by bringing in top classes at LSU. Pretty much every coach ever to coach LSU developed the same reputation. I honestly believe that Saban is a better recruiter because of being able to point out his successes at LSU. He has always been a good recruiter, but I think LSU helped him become better.
I'm a big fan of Bear Bryant, and I'm a lifelong LSU fan. I don't care to try to find "bad" in the Bear, because it's much more constructive to remember him fondly, recognize that he was a good representative of southern football and the conference, and let him be remembered as a legend, which he is. I'm always saddened when my fellow LSU fans bash Bear . . . let the Bauburn fans do that, not LSU, because Cholly Mac would not approve of LSU fans behaving that way. As for the PURPLE AND GOLD HOUNDSTOOTH HATS . . . I have this to say . . these hats symbolize how fondly we remember this formidable adversary. LSU only had a 4-16 record against Bear . . . and I can never know this for sure . . . but, I really hope that even tho Bama won most of those games, I hope that the Bama players were physically whipped and beaten after the LSU game than for any other opponent. If I am to be beaten, I want my opponent to weep with tears of physical pain after the game for the super-human effort it took to defeat me. PS I'm really happy that I stepped onto the Bama team bus after the 1981 game in Tiger Stadium and met Bear and shook his hand after he got the win. I was a college kid with a purple LSU sweatshirt on, and I think that I made a good impression on the old gent. I represented The Ole War Skule and our Fighting Tigers student body very well during my brief visit expressing my hope that Bear would eventually break Amos Alonzo Stagg's record. There's no reason for animosity between LSU and Bama . . . it is certainly against the traditional respect that Cholly Mac and Bear always showed towards each other. Never forget that when a pee- on LSU student (me) went up to Coach Bryant on his teams' bus full of his players dressed in coats and ties right after they left the visiting locker room in Tiger Stadium . . . and I offered my hand to shake . . . Coach Bryant shook my hand and thanked me for my congratulations and good wishes . . . Bear STOPPED LOOKING AT HIS AFTER-GAME NOTES AND SHOOK MY HAND. He did NOT chase me away, or look at me with a jaundiced eye . . .he did not scold me or discourage me in any way. Bear was very nice to a pee-on LSU student (me) . . . that says something about this Gentleman (him, not me). Again, no reason for LSU and Bama fans to get at each other's throats. LSU! :crystal: :lsup:
Something that I have never seen posted on here is what Satan did before LSU. As I recall he spent a couple years at Michigan State. His last yr was MSU's ONLY 10 win season since 1966. That yr MSU beat Michigan, ND, tOSU, Penn State, and Florida. Of course Sparty fell apart the following yr under Bobby Williams. I sometimes wonder how good Sparty would be had Satan stayed around. BHD
